Even though local knowledge and traditional medicine are gaining wider recognition at the global level, according to Shukla and Gardner most of this recognition is focused on codified, text based traditional systems such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Policy makers and NGOs largely overlook un-codified, predominantly oral folk systems of traditional medicine. In India, this is also true. Even though the majority of the Indian population relies on non-codified folk medicine practiced at the local level there has been almost no policy support. According to the authors, this lack of recognition and support has led to the erosion of local folk medicinal knowledge. While global and national conservation efforts have focused almost exclusively on traditional codified systems, some local NGOs, such as the Rural Communes Medicinal Plant Conservation Centre (RCMPCC), are using community-based participatory approaches to the conservation of medicinal plants and folk medicinal knowledge.

In this article, the authors describe and analyse the RCMPCC efforts, specifically in the village of Amboli, to include local knowledge in its conservation efforts, and examine the positive outcomes generated at a local, regional, national and global levels. While there is an allopathic medical facility in Amboli, practitioners are only sporadically available, and there is a high reliance on local medicinal knowledge for health care. Recognizing this dependence and importance of local healers (vaidu), RCMPCC set up a project in the area, which consisted of the following:

• Village Biologist Program (vaidu sammalan): local knowledge experts, which are often, but not limited to, local healers are identified. The vaidu and other experts engage in knowledge exchange with scientists, offering their knowledge on local ecology and medicinal plants in exchange for learning formal botanical and biological skills.
• Village biologists are then consulted and included in the documentation of local plant knowledge; involved and trained in value-adding activities to manufacture and market products made from local plants, and included in all local biodiversity conservation efforts.
• The creation of Medicinal Plant Conservation Areas (MPCAs). Areas are of high biodiversity and large populations of medicinal plants and selected in consultation with vaidu, the community, and the Forest Department.
  MPCAs were further designated as Medicinal Plant Reserves by the Forest Department

Shukla and Gardner describe and give detail on each of these project components and found the RCMPCC programme to be highly successful. Locally it has increased the recognition of local healers, folk medicine, and local knowledge concerning medicinal plants, including those considered rare and endangered, as well as increased the recognition of women healers. At the regional level, the Forest Department publicised the knowledge and contribution of the vaidu by including their knowledge in publications and working plans.

However, the authors conclude that the RCMPCC programme has been less successful and had less of an impact at the national and global levels. As a result of the project, vaidu taking part of RCMPCC project were asked by national and international organizations to participate in training and their input included in databases of medicinal knowledge and threatened medicinal species. And there has been evidence of increased funding for similar projects. Despite this, the authors feel the RCMPCC project’s greatest success has been at the micro level, locally and regionally creating a sense of empowerment and equity, and integrating local knowledge with scientific knowledge while simultaneously conserving local medicinal resources and traditional knowledge.

Prepared by Erin Smith